donkey genetics... does anyone know...?

[lasergrl]

I always thought it was safe to breed a larger male to a smaller female with equines because the foal will not grow larger then the uterus can hold? People quite often breed standard jennies with mammoth jacks, and regular sized horses with percherons and ect. I could be wrong that its desireable but it certainly is done alot.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
I'll definately check into this, thanks. I know a "horse guy" down the road, and *THE donkey guy lives down the other way. *Jr. Walker - he is 89 years old, has over 40 donkeys and can answer anything about donkeys I might ask, but I didn't want to bother him with genetics.

He's a hoot to chat with.

meri

 

[jmhappycowboy]

Quote:
And you are right about this. And this came straight from a veterinarian. He said the resulting foal as you said only had so much room to grow while inside mom and that it was safe. I have bought shetland pony mares that where bred to quarter horses and they had no problems foaling, when the foal was born it was small but grew really fast, didn't take them long to get bigger than mom.

 

[Cara]

I wouldn't consider breeding an animal with behavioural issues just because it's pretty. Beauty is as beauty does, especially with large animals.

 

[Amy's Animals]

Altough Cara has a point, what if these behavioral issues have nothing to do with his nature, but rather with the circumstances he was raised in? Any way, I think I would breed him to one of the spotted jennies, who says these behaviors can be inherited? You might get a pretty, sweet foal with no issues, and if it does have issues, you can always sell him/her and geld the jack to prevent him from passing the undesirable traits. Either way you'll be guessing, breeding is nothing but guessing.

 

[Blackbird]

Your right, it could go either way. However.. wouldn't it be better to breed for correct conformation, temperment, over colour? Not saying the little jack doesn't have good conformation though.

 

[Amy's Animals]

True, that usually is what you breed for but it seems that Meri really thinks color is important also, (nothing wrong with that btw) else I don't think she would have just bought the pretty spotted jack along with his not so pretty behavior. No matter how much we talk about what can happen, etc, we'll never know for sure until they are mated together and we see the product.

Meri, we're all just guessing guessing guessing, but they are your animals and your decisions, we can offer our opinions but those all greatly vary and won't help you all that much when making the big decision, breeding or not? You only can make that decision based what you really want in the offspring and you can judge your own animals far better than any of us will be able to. This might help though, you have more then one spotted gene jenny right? Well, why not just then breed one to Blackjack and one to TeaCake, and then you won't even have to chose! See which (or both?) offspring fits your ideal and there you have your answers, viola! Just some help (maybe) Good luck

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Thanks for all the advice, folks, and the discussions, it is helping me decide what to do, really it is.

It's too bad that folks who sell horses/donkeys more often than not aren't honest about it. I knew he had a nipping issue, but none of his other faults. Just from how he acts, I do believe it was something he learned - and that he was probably all alone in a field or pasture and hadn't any interaction with other donkeys or horses. Most of his issues seem to be socializing problems.

We have worked a lot with him, and worked through some of the issues.

I'm still undecided about what to do. I'm inclined to just make two pastures and put him in with the smaller girls, in one and put the standards in the other. Maybe fewer companions might help him learn better how to interact. (Plus, Mama donkey don't take no crap, she'll keep him in line

)

eta - his food issues, while he is all alone, are nothing. He practically ignores his corn in the morning, and leaves it there to nibble at half the day. BIG difference from trying to eat everything before other donkeys get to it.

meri

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I don't have much experience with donkeys, but I have seen many times larger stallions bred to smaller mares with no issues. I actually believe it is as more common than the reverse(small stud and large mare). Now, I wouldn't get carried away with it and breed a Clydesdale stallion to a mini mare! I think the larger stallion is more common because many times people breed "up" to the stallion(higher quality stallion than mare).

The previous owners may not have brought up his behavioral issues because they didn't know about them, or they simply thought it was normal. I have known people who keep psycopath stallions and excuse murderous behavior with a brush off the shoulder and the excuse "it's breeding season". Sorry, but intact testes is no excuse for dangerous or murderous behavior.

Breed the jack if that is your intention. If he throws poorly tempered young, geld him. The world is full of illbred animals as it is and if his young are aggressive or illtempered as well, you know it was not the jack's upbringing but genetics.

-Kim

 

[lasergrl]

well you can breed the solid jack to the spotted jenny, and the spotted jack to the solid jenny and have equal chance of getting spotted in each foal. But remember you can still get a solid foal. Heck, breeding two spotteds can still get you a solid foal. I think the conformation of the solid blackjack is much better anyways from pics provided, and would ship the spotted off for all the reasons you have plus he isnt the better specimen.
I personally would be inclined to say the behavior is typical intact donkey behavior. They are known for being unsocial with other animals. Thats why intact jacks dont make for a guarding animal. Even my jenny can be a witch at feeding time. Its to some degree completely normal donkey behavior and especially so for intact males. I think if you had all the time in the world you could breed away from it but realistically in one generation you probably arent going to change donkey behavior. There is a nature vs nurture aspect also and if raised socially you'll have a better chance of creating nice jack foals, but any that arent breeders should be geldings. then they can be reliable.
If teacake has been with the girls for almost a year and he is the dominant jack, chances are GREAT that the girls are bred to him. You can keep spotted female offspring, sell teacake, and keep blackjack as the unrelated stud. Everybodies happy.